BYU / Utah Game

I tried to show some BYU pride by spraying a blue Y in the snow on our front lawn this year. I was hoping it would be a lucky charm, but luck wasn't on our side. At least the game wasn't a let down. The Cougars did way better than I thought they would in addition to outplaying the Utes. The score just didn't reflect it. I just can't wait for the next couple of years. We've got a lot of growing talent that will be sticking around.

Thanksgiving Day

Our Thanksgiving holiday was very relaxing this year. I was on roll duty and felt a little guilty for it so I made some homemade feather rolls in addition to Terrel's delicious freezer rolls and threw together Hungry Bear Pie as well. If you don't know what that is, it's made with graham crackers, dry jell-o and applesauce, cool whip, and chocolate sprinkles. Only those of us that grew up on it like it. It must be an acquired taste.

Gale and Todd hosted the gathering at their house and the meal turned out amazing. All but Sara, Kevin, and Brian's families were there. And then Todd and Gale have a fun hill in their back yard for sledding so the girls got suited up and spent an hour having a blast.

Later in the day we spent some time with Josh's parents and Brady and then visited Grandpa Smith. After this year's Thanksgiving, I'm thinking I might actually have a favorite holiday. Turkey dinner is one of my favorite meals, and when you get to enjoying with good company in a relaxing environment, it's all the better.

The Blizzard

So we were supposed to have a blizzard yesterday, but other than the wind, it didn't seem very different from any other storm we had. The girls could hardly wait to go out and play in the snow. It was the first real storm of the year (which I'm not sad about at all).

I tried taking Ashlyn out too, but she didn't last very long. She kept taking her gloves off to touch the snow and after a few minutes she was all tears. I'm not sure if she was just cold or hated the snowsuit--it turned her into such a puff ball that she could hardly move.

Board Games

Many of you may not know that we are a game playing family thanks to Josh. Any time we are home together as a family, he encourages us to play a game together. It's not my favorite thing in the whole wide world because that's all the girls want me to do all day long, but as long as they play my strategy games when they get older, it'll all be worth it.

Sadie's favorite game these days is Candy Land. She used to prefer Operation but that's only because we would let the buzzer go off the entire time she was extracting the piece. She's also very good at Memory. Last time she played Josh, she only lost by a match and Josh wasn't even trying to let her win.

Kali's current favorite is Don't Break the Ice. She went through the Memory and Candy Land phases long ago but is still a good sport and plays them when it's Sadie's turn to pick the game.

Indian & Pilgrim

These two both had Thanksgiving parties at their schools today and brought home some homemade costumes. They practically wore them non-stop all day long. Who knew some paper accessories could be so much fun.

8 Months

Check out this cute girl. She is growing up way too fast. Her personality reminds me a lot of Kali--determined and stubborn. Thankfully she's a much happier baby than Kali was. Although, it's probably only because she has Kali and Sadie to keep her entertained all day.

Hair Cuts

Sadie had been talking all week about how "cool" it was that mommy was getting her hair cut short like hers. She knew that she and Kali would be getting theirs cut too, but that didn't seem to matter as much. Then when we were actually getting our hair cut, all she could think about was when it was going to be her turn. It's the first time she's gotten her hair cut since she was a year old, by someone other than me, so it was a pretty big deal.

Here's the finished product! Thanks Nicole!!!

Long Hair

I have been itching to get my hair cut short for a while now but have been growing it out for Josh. It has been about six years since it was short and I can no longer take it. Ashlyn is constantly pulling it, it's getting caught in my diaper bag all the time, and I feel like hair is everywhere. So I'm getting my hair cut today. I know that I probably shouldn't have taken a picture of my long hair, because once it's short, I'll probably just wish it were long again, but I had to have a picture for memory's sake.

New Discoveries

Ashlyn has discovered that others are moving around while she just sits there. So now she's either frustrated that she can't move or frustrated that she can't get herself out of a position she's gotten into in an attempt to crawl. I was hoping she would wait until after Christmas to start crawling (so she doesn't tear down the tree), but I think my hopes were set a little too high.

She has also started giving kisses and hugs and loves playing peek-a-boo. She's become a good eater, is sleeping about 8 hours a night and has finally lessened the whole mommy's girl thing. The grandparents are in heaven with that.

The Primary Program

Today was our Primary Program and Kali did amazing! She had to quote the scripture 2 Nephi 27:23 that says "For behold, I am God; and I am a God of miracles..." When she was given the part, she was insistent that she had to memorize it that day. I think she has a little too much of her mother's determination (or is that stubbornness or maybe perfectionism).

Anyway, I think she's had a scripture every year and I end up memorizing the verse too because of how many times she repeats it. I still remember last year's. 2 Nephi 4:15 "For my soul delighteth in the scriptures, and my heart pondereth them, and writeth them for the learning and the profit of my children."

We also had many people make comments to us about how well she did singing the songs. We were seated in the overflow and we could still hear her from clear back there.

Craft Day

Somehow I was never blessed with the crafty gene, but thankfully I have sisters and sister-in-laws that were. We recently got together to make some holiday decorations and I left with a very cute Christmas wreath. Thanks Gale!

Money Finagler

Sadie presented me with a beautiful picture she had drawn today. She even had Josh roll it up and tie a ribbon around it. After opening it and commenting on the beauty, I placed it on my dresser and didn't think much more of it. Later in the day, she came to me with the same picture in hand and informed me that she was taking it back and that if I wanted it, I would have to pay her money. We had a pretty good laugh about that. She's getting too smart for her own good.

She was actually hoping to get some more pennies because she likes to play with small objects lately and we had given her a few pennies the day before. Still, it's a pretty smart tactic to earn some money.

Red Robin

One of our family favorites is to go out to eat at Red Robin. As a matter of fact, it is one of three places that we choose from every time we go out and it's the one we choose most often.

Standing

Ashlyn's new favorite thing is pulling herself into a standing position. And every time she does, she gets this look on her face that shows she is so proud of herself. I love it!!

PMBA Student

For those of you that don't know, Josh is currently working on his MBA at the U of U. This is the position that I find him in most days--working hard at his laptop. Thankfully an end is in sight. Only 7 months left. And what I'm most proud of is that he is currently a straight "A" student. Talk about amazing!!! Three kids, a full time job, a fussy wife, and straight "A's". My superman!

Our Little Sniffer

Hopefully this picture gives you a good laugh!!! Ashlyn has gotten into the habit of crinkling her nose and puckering her lips while breathing in and out really fast so it sounds like she's sniffing or blowing her nose fast. It's the funniest thing and I am so excited to have finally caught it on camera. Both Kali and Sadie did something similar when they were her age, but because of Ashlyn's chubby cheeks it's all the more funny.

Sadie & Justin

Although these two cousins are about 1 1/2 years apart, my sister and I got realizing that they're not very different in size. They wear the same size pants, the same size shoes, and only weight about two pounds different. Sadie, our tiny little thing, is growing but still has a ways to go to catch up to most kids her age.

Jane's Baptism

We got to go to my niece's baptism on Saturday. It was fun to go because we've talked about it plenty over the years and attended several, but Sadie can't really put an image with "Baptism". This time, however, I think she is finally to the age that she'll remember it.

Student of the Month

Kali came home from school today with an award. She got student of the month for the month of October. At first I thought it was something they had given to all the students, but after questioning her further, I found out that only one student per class gets the award. She even got to go up in front of everyone at a school assembly to get the award and was given $8 towards purchases on a scholastic book order. We thought that was such a good accomplishment that we went out for ice cream. Way to go Kali!!!

Kali's Adventure Book

Kali asked me the other day if she could make a book out of a napkin for her teacher. She said she got the idea from her cousin Hailey. I didn't think much of it and told her she could. The next day she showed her finished book to Josh and he asked if he could keep it. After taking a look at it, I see why--it's priceless! She entitled it Miy ivechr Book which is supposed to say My Adventure Book. As you'll see in just a moment, I'm not quite sure why she gave it that name, but the content is what I love. Here's what it looks like.

"he maD use" which translates to "He made us"

"He maDe anumLs he maDe RamBosee" which translates to "He made animals. He made rainbows."

"He made the rth He maDe woDR anmLs" which translates to "He made the earth. He made water animals."

When she was done showing her book to Josh, we asked who she was writing about and she said, "Jesus". I just thought it was very touching that this was the topic she would make a book about. I'm also amazed at how much she understands about the part He played in our creation and the creation of the beautiful things around us.